ams assembly - alma mater society of queen's university2019/02/28 · 3 president of the alma...
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AMS Assembly
Thursday, February 28th, 2019 6:30pm –Macdonald Hall 001
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Agenda
Assembly
1. Motion #1 – That AMS Assembly approve the Agenda of the meeting of February 28,
2019.
2. Motion #2 – That AMS Assembly approve the minutes of the meeting of January 17,
2019.
3. Speaker’s Business
4. Guest Speaker
a. Affairs of the Society: President Martinez
5. President’s Report: President Miguel Martinez
6. Vice-President’s Report
a. Operations: Liam Tharp
b. University Affairs: Munro Watters
7. Board of Director’s Report: Board Chair Mikela Page
8. Undergraduate Student Trustee’s Report: Trustee Victoria Chappell
9. Student Senator’s Report: Student Senate Caucus Chair
10. Rector’s Report: Rector Alex Da Silva
11. Statements by Students
12. Question Period
13. Business Arising from the Minutes
14. New Business
a. Motion #3 – That AMS Assembly ratify all of the clubs listed in Appendix: Club
b. Motion #4 – That AMS Assembly approve the first reading of the changes to the
AMS Constitution
15. Discussion Period
a. The State of Society Equity Training- Secretary Woolhouse
b. O Canada
16. Adjournment
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Motion Sheet
1. Moved by: Bronwyn Woolhouse Seconded by: Miguel Martinez
“That AMS Assembly approve the Agenda of the meeting of February 28, 2019.”
2. Moved by: Bronwyn Woolhouse Seconded by: Miguel Martinez
“That AMS Assembly approve the minutes for the Assembly meeting January 17,
2019.”
3. Moved by: Regina Codera Seconded by: Munro Watters
“That AMS Assembly ratify all of the clubs listed in Appendix: Club.”
4. Moved by: Susie Emerson Seconded by: Bronwyn Woolhouse
“That AMS Assembly approve the first reading of the changes to the AMS
Constitution.”
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President of the Alma Mater Society
Report to Assembly
Miguel Martinez February 28, 2019
Hello Members of Assembly,
I apologize for not submitting a written report, as I am travelling. I will be giving my
report verbally.
All the best,
Miguel Martinez
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Vice-President (Operations) & CEO
Report to Board of Directors
Liam Tharp February 28, 2019
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Vice-President (University Affairs)
Report to Assembly
Munro Watters February 28, 2019
Dear Assembly
I hope you had a wonderful and restful reading week! I must send my regrets as I am
unable to make this assembly due to OUSA’s General Assembly, so if you have further
questions please feel free to email me.
Government Restructuring
Following consultations with Assembly, the AMS Board of Directors finalized
restructurings to the Government side of the AMS. Following that I have been heavily
invested in ensuring this time of change is one that is as smooth as possible from the
Commissioners all the way to current volunteers & co-chairs. We are also reaching out
to our partners within the University as well as the broader Kingston community to
ensure they are all informed of the recent changes and we can work towards continued
collaboration despite the changes. This has also affected our transition process, as such I
am working with my team to make the necessary adjustments to the work that has been
done so far to ensure the transition is smooth and complete. Further to that, I am
currently working with our Clubs Director to ensure the transition for some committees
into clubs is a smooth one.
Transition
As touched upon above, the transition process is beginning – a very bittersweet time for
sure. I have begun my transition meetings with Will and he will soon start shadowing
me at various meetings. I am also working with my direct reports on this process by
review their transition manuals and checklists to ensure that they are ready for their
incoming successors.
OUSA
As stated above, Julia and I are away at OUSA’s General Assembly this weekend where
we will be discussing the most recent policy papers: Student Financial Aid, Student
Employment, and LGBTQ+ Students. Julia has done a fantastic job of ensuring all the
relevant consultations have been done. This weekend we will also be having more in-
depth discussions with other institutions about best practices in the wake of the Student
Choice Initiative. We will also be discussing the future of OUSA as a whole and I will
update Assembly when I have further information.
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Recent events have taken up a large majority of my time, however my focus has been
on remaining organized and on top of my responsibilities to keep the Government side
running. With only 2 months left of my term, I want to make sure Will is able to come in
with a relatively clean slate to work on various projects and initiatives without
operational hindrances. s
Feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns!
Munro Watters - Vice President (University Affairs)
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Members of Assembly,
The past month has been filled with preparations for the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance
(OUSA) General Assembly, preparing for transitioning my successor, and continuing advocacy
work on university administration sub-committees.
OUSA General Assembly begins on Friday, March 1st 2019. The eight member institutions will
gather together with their respective delegations to discuss the policy papers; LGBTQ+, Student
Employment, and Student Financial Aid. The papers will be revised, edited, and then (ideally)
passed at a plenary session of the general assembly. In the weeks leading up to GA, the Steering
Committee has been working to finalize the policy and prepare our delegations to debate the
papers. In my VP Administration and Human Resources role, I have had to jump in to hiring two
new Research and Policy Analysts. This has involved reviewing applications and selecting
candidates to interview.
I have been working on the transition process for my successor, and evaluating how to best
prepare for this considering the restructuring! I will also be working closely with members of the
commission to meet each of their goals before the end of the year.
As the AAC, I sit on several university-level committees, and I have been engaging on issues of
academic accommodations, academic procedures, and experiential learning. In the next month, I
am looking forward to finalizing the transition process and beginning to prepare my successor,
alongside jumping in to some internal projects!
Sincerely,
Julia Göllner
Commission of Academic Affairs
Report to Assembly
Julia Göllner February 28, 2019
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Commission of Campus Activities
Report to Assembly
Alexander Birt February 28, 2019
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Hello Assembly,
The next two months will be an extraordinarily busy time for the MAC with the second
Annual AMS Community Development Summit taking place on April 6th, 2019. We
gathered over 500 responses from student and non-student residents regarding the
UDSI, Nuisance Party By-law, and a host of other topics to help inform future advocacy
efforts. This will help us to evaluate the effectiveness of the UDSI as a tool to address
large unsanctioned gatherings. The event will also bring attention to the work we are
doing as a student body to address binge drinking. I urge you to register this month. A
complementary lunch will be provided.
Along with the AAC I will be helping to transition the new Commissioner of External
Advocacy into their role.
I wish everyone the best,
Soren Christianson
Commission of Municipal Affairs Report to Assembly
Soren Christianson February 28, 2019
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Dear Assembly,
I hope you all had a great reading week and feel well rested to undertake the last stretch
of the year!
It has been a few months since my last report to assembly, so I will try to summarize
important pieces as effectively as possible!
First, with the help of Queen’s For the Boys, I have been working on a video project on
the topic of sexual violence and masculinity. The filming happened at the end of
January, and the videos are now in the process of being assembled by StudioQ. I hope
to receive the first copy in the upcoming days, and hopefully, to release the project in
upcoming weeks!
This weekend, the Committee Against Racial and Ethnic Discrimination(CARED) will
also be holding their 3rd annual conference. The theme this year is “Racism and
Facilitating Inclusive Conversations”. The CARED co-chairs, the entire committee as
well as my deputy of education, Janna, have been working really hard on this
conference over the past few months, and I am really excited for it to come to fruition
this weekend.
The AMS Food Bank has also recently launched their Good Food Box program. Every
month, for a cost much lower than you would have at the grocery store, students can
order a box of local fruits and/or vegetables delivered on campus! Subsidies are also
available for the boxes. If you are interested in finding out more, all the information is
on the AMS Facebook page!
On March 18th, at 7pm in QC506, I will be giving an open session of the Intervention
and Awareness training I have developed over the summer. As a refresher, the
Intervention and Awareness workshop discusses how micro-aggressions, stereotypes,
prejudices and discrimination fit within systems of oppression, and provides tips and
tools to become active bystander and challenge oppression in our environment. If you
are available, I encourage you to come, and feel free to pass along the word to anyone
who may be interested!
Commission of Social Issues Report to Assembly
Myriam-Morenike Djossou February 28, 2019
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As my term is slowly coming to an end, and that my successor has just been hired, I
have also been working on my transition manual, and working on longer term projects
for the next SIC to smoothly take on. Transition should start over the upcoming weeks,
and I am really excited to start working with the new me!
Finally, the winter Accessibility Queen’s and Equity Queen’s grant applications are
available until this Friday. If you or any group within your faculty would like to apply,
I highly encourage you to, and I am happy to answer any inquiry you may have!
Looking forward to see all of you this Thursday!
Best Regards,
Myriam-Morenike Djossou
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Dear Assembly,
Firstly, I would like to congratulate Team AJW, Tyler Macintyre, and all successful
referendum groups in a wonderfully and professionally run campaign season. Due to
the provincial government announcement, a lot of my time hasn’t been as focused on
policy as I would like, but the changes that have been made by the AMS Board of
Directors are currently being put into policy for the approval of Assembly.
Hope you all had a somewhat restful reading week!
Respectfully submitted,
Bronwyn Woolhouse
AMS Secretary Report to Assembly
Bronwyn Woolhouse February 28, 2019
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Chair of the Board of Directors Report to Assembly
Mikela Page February 28, 2019
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Dear Members of Assembly,
I hope everyone had a restful reading week and is looking forward to the second half of
this semester!
New Club Ratification
The Clubs Office is excited to welcome 36 newly ratified clubs! We had an incredible
applicant pool and over the course of a week and a half, conducted 50 interviews to see
which groups would achieve ratification. Ewan and I are so excited to welcome them to
the Clubs community! Please find the list of new clubs attached in an appendix.
Grants
The Winter Clubs Experience Grant helps clubs subsidize the cost of their event planning
by providing funds for space and room rentals, marketing materials, printing costs, and
more. The Winter Clubs Experience Grant received over 80 applications this term. After
recording and reviewing all applications, the Grant Allocation Review Committee,
consisting of the Director of Clubs, the Assistant Director, the Vice-President University
Affairs and AMS General Manager, met before reading week to allocate the funds
accordingly. The cheques are now ready for pick up in the Clubs Office.
Clubs Appreciation Night
The final gathering of the year for the Clubs Office is Clubs Appreciation Night! This is
an event to celebrate and recognize the incredible effort and hard work that clubs have
done in the past year and especially recognizes specific clubs, events, and individuals for
their outstanding efforts on March 20th. There are four awards given out: Club of the
Year, Best Club Event(s), New Club of the Year, and the Jeffrey McCarthy Club Award for
Outstanding Individual Contribution. Nominations for these awards are being accepted
until Tuesday March 5th.
Transition
It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year since I was hired for this position! I’m so looking
forward to bringing my successor through their transition and teaching them about the
role, the office, its strengths, and where it needs improvement. I look forward to
Director of Clubs Report to Assembly
Regina Robbins-Codera
February 28, 2019
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updating Assembly on this process in future meetings and hearing about the incredible
ideas my successor has!
Respectfully submitted,
Regina Codera, Director of Clubs 2018-2019
Good Evening Assembly,
This upcoming Friday and Saturday, the Board of Trustees will be
meeting on campus for the final time during the winter term. This will be a very interesting
meeting with many important discussion topics given the multitude of events that have arisen
since the last meeting in December. The open session agenda can be found here and I welcome
anyone interested to take a look! I will provide you in this report with a preliminary overview of
selected key topics to be discussed during the open session of Board, and I will follow up with a
more comprehensive update for the next meeting of Assembly.
Reports | Provost Harris provides updates on the continued effort to respond to the Ontario
Government plan to make changes to tuition and OSAP. In the Quarterly Advancement Report,
the Advancement Strategic Priorities 2020 and progress to the four-year target is discussed.
Additionally, Government and Institutional Relations outlines its communication strategy for the
federal, provincial, and municipal governments specific to relevant advocacy priorities. The
projected financial results for the operating and ancillary funds and affiliated entities is provided
by the Vice Principal (Finance and Administration), and an update on the Strategic Framework is
provided by Principal Woolf.
Committee Activity | Under the portfolio of the Audit and Risk Committee, the Sexual Violence
Report provides statistical information and analysis on the Policy on Sexual Violence Involving
Queen’s University Students. An update on the JDUC Revitalization Project following the AMS
referendum is also provided, including detailed information about the project finances, and a
motion for approval.
Board-Senate Retreat | Following the completion of Board-specific content on Saturday
morning, the Board members will join the members of Senate for the annual Board-Senate
Retreat. Each year, a theme is selected with the goal of stimulating conversations relevant to the
administration’s priorities and goals for the University going forward. This year’s retreat theme
is “Preparing our Students for Success”, and the intent is to stimulate discussion on the role of
the University in providing students with skills to prepare them for the future beyond their
degree as expectations of employers evolve.
Finally, I would like to say an official congratulations and welcome to Tyler Macintyre,
the incoming Undergraduate Student Trustee who will start his term on June 1st, 2019. I look
forward to providing you all with more information on these discussions following the meetings
this weekend! If you have questions regarding anything I have mentioned in this report, please
feel free to ask – I can be reached at [email protected] .
Respectfully submitted,
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Victoria Chappell
O
Undergraduate Student Trustee Report to Assembly
Victoria Chappell February 28, 2019
Student Senate Caucus Chair Report to Assembly February 28, 2019
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Dear Assembly,
Congratulations to all the societies for successful election seasons and a heartfelt
congratulations to all those who have been elected! Best of luck to everyone who has
begun their transition periods, I look forward to working with each of the incoming
teams!
Agnes Benidickson Tricolour Award |
In early February, a team of nine student volunteers came together to spend nearly 60
hours interviewing an incredible slate of Tricolour Award nominees. We saw more
nominees than ever before and each interview made our deliberations even more
challenging. Before sharing the results of said deliberations I would like to extend a
special thank you to Colleen Bumstead, Alexander Ness, Dante Aralihalli, Connie
Trinh, Katelyn Gramsch, Alex Troiani, Alexander Kotsopoulos, Elena Feder, and
Andrew Vasila. It was not just the time these students dedicated to recognizing their
peers- but the critical thinking, the passion, the respect, and the reverence they brought
to the table that made me so proud to have worked with each of them and I am
absolutely certain that with the kind of understanding of leadership they have all
demonstrated, each of these students is going on to do incredible things for our
community. I asked the committee to reflect on a number of themes, one of which was
impact, which we defined as “A commitment to creating moments that cause people to
feel as if they are better off for having interacted with you.” Each and every nominee
had evidence of their outstanding impact- something that can never be truly quantified.
Having said that, it is my absolute pleasure to share with you the results of the
committee’s deliberations. This year the Tricolour Society will be inducting six new
members: Ampai Thammachack, Erika Campbell, Olivia Rondeau, Zac Baum, Khamil
Alhade, and Benji Christie. This diverse group includes a student in their fifth year at
Queen’s, one who has only been here since May, and everything in between. Each
individual has brought something incredibly unique to the table and together the six of
them represent impactful and meaningful work in the areas of socio-economic
opportunity, mental health fundraising and education, consent, healthy masculinity
and art, academic advocacy, indigenous advocacy and education, and faculty society
contributions. These are individuals who are the very embodiment of the Tricolour
University Rector Report to Assembly
Alex Da Silva February 28, 2019
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Award who’s impact reaches far beyond what they themselves will ever see. I am
grateful for such inspiring peers to work alongside.
Drinking Culture at Queen’s |
The revised Campus Alcohol Policy which I have mentioned in earlier reports has
successfully gone through several iterations of consultations and feedback is currently
being integrated into the most recent draft. Proactive safety and communications
planning is currently underway for the upcoming Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations,
much of which will be based on best practices across the sector. I have recently
connected with two Queen’s alumni also working in the area of alcohol harm reduction
and will be working with them to bring a number of their strategies along for
implementation on Queen’s campus.
Student Wellness |
The Campus Wellness Project is well into consultations and will be meeting with the
Student Health and Wellness Roundtable just next week. Work has begun on the
student initiative I mentioned at the last
Board meeting to establish a centralized resource guide for all students across campus.
The students working on this project have taken a special focus to highlighting
resources targeting marginalized folks or those least likely to access resources when
necessary. Work has also begun on an educational campaign aimed at addressing
language that reduces the inclusivity on our campus. Work on these will continue over
the coming months and I look forward to reporting back on the status of these projects.
--
Princeps Servesque Es
Alex da Silva
36th Rector of Queen’s University
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Residence Society President
Report to Assembly
Michael Coldwell February 28, 2019
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Arts and Science Undergraduate Society President Report to Assembly
Sagal Sharma February 28, 2019
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Hello Assembly,
Student Choice Initiative
We have been looking at next year and how to budget, as well as how to structure our
fees.
Engineering Wellness Centre
This is a peer support centre that has unfortunately been closed moving forwards. We
have been looking at how this Centre can be re-opened under the Engineering Society
starting in Fall 2019.
By-Law Updates
We have been looking at many by-laws and updating them.
Incoming Directors
Our new Executive-Director Team has been hired! We are now hiring within each of
their portfolios, anyone can apply! Keep an eye out for our services like TeaRoom,
ScienceQuest and Clark Hall Pub.
Carson Cook
Engineering Society President
Engineering Society President Report to Assembly
Carson Cook February 28, 2019
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Hello everyone!
I hope you all had a restful reading week! We are excited to be back and to begin
wrapping up projects and transitioning our successors.
Elections – A huge congratulations to our successors, Team ACA who will be taking
over for myself, Megan and Tony come May 1st. They were elected with an 87% vote of
confidence, and we are super excited to see what they are able to achieve over the
course of their term! We will be hosting the election for the remaining available
positions in the next few weeks.
CCC Commerce vs Engineering Game – This year, the Cure Cancer Classic did a
phenomenal job hosting the annual Commerce vs. Engineering Rivalry Hockey game at
the K-Rock Centre, which saw over 4,000 students in attendance and raised over
$120,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society. Congrats to the engineers that defeated
Commerce in overtime, and to the CCC Team for a great event (which got featured on
NHL.com!)
Hiring: Hiring for all of our volunteer positions is commencing this week. Most
positions are open to students not in Commerce so if other faculties are interested in
joining a ComSoc club or conference, we encourage you all to apply ☺
Have a safe first week back!
Best regards,
Jordan Flanigan
Commerce Society President
Commerce Society President Report to Assembly
Jordan Flanigan February 28, 2019
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Physical Education and Kinesiology Students’ Association President Report to Assembly
Quentin Tsang February 28, 2019
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Concurrent Education Students’ Association President Report to Assembly
Tiffany Wong February 28, 2019
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Nursing Science Society President Report to Assembly
Julia Kruizinga February 28, 2019
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Hello all,
We are happy to announce that we have elected the executive for next year. Nana
Boateng will be President and can be contacted at [email protected],
Shreyansh Anand will be Vice President Operations and can be contacted at
[email protected], Taylor Brooks will be Vice President Student Affairs
and can be contacted at [email protected].
Best,
Maxwell Keleher (He/Him)
COMPSA President
Computing Students’ Association President Report to Assembly
Max Keleher
February 28, 2019
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Appendices Appendix: Club
Tourbillon Trust
Scholars of Colour
Queen’s Women in Financial Markets
Queen’s VEX U Robotics Team
Queen’s Television
Queen’s Students for Save a Child's Heart
Skateboarding Club
Pre-Dental Society
Queen’s Ladies in Fitness Training
Queen’s Highland Dance Club
Queen’s Group Study
Queen’s Freedom from Violence
Queen’s for the Canadian Liver Foundation
Queen’s Entrepreneurs' Competition
Queen’s Cultural Exchange
Queen’s Clothes for a Cause
Queen’s Association of Philosophical Thought
STEM Fellowship
Queen’s Nuclear Energy and Environmental Design
Queen’s Business and Engineering
Queen’s Filipino Association
Queen’s Baking Club
Capes for Kids
Queen’s Conference on the Business Environment Today
Queen’s Architecture Conference
Queen’s One to More
Queen’s Eye Care Club
Queen’s MS Society
Queen’s Health and Nutrition Society
Queen’s Applied Biotechnology Club
Queen's Agricultural Society
Frontenacs of Campus
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Get Real
Global Society of Genome and Genetics Biology
Conference on the Business Environment Today
QJAZZ
Appendix: Constitution
Motion “That AMS Assembly approve the first reading of the changes to the AMS
Constitution.”
Policy Addition or Amendment Submission Form
Policy Document(s): AMS Constitution Section(s): 9.01, 9.2.1, 9.2.2, 9.2.4, 9.2.5, 9.2,6, 9.2.7, 9.3.2, 9.3.3, 9.3.4
Mover Seconder
Name: Susie Emerson Name: Bronwyn Woolhouse
Position: Judicial Affairs Manager Position: Secretary
Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
Executive Summary
These are changes to the Constitution that are necessary for clarity in the system moving
forward. These fix reference errors within the document as well as change NAD
(discipline) to NAM (misconduct).
Link to the Constitution: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1osPxcK2Wt8cH4sSPn0-
H5T8toiwyn16m/view?usp=sharing